‘She is my dream woman’

They met at the Abia State University in Uturu (ABSU). Today, Pastor Onuoha Chukwu and Dr Ijeoma, an optician, have become one following their wedding in Lagos, reports. NNEKA NWANERI.

She flaunted her ring for all to see. Decked in a white flowing wedding gown with a veil over her head, she stood and held tight to her man. The groom was also in a white suit, a pair of white trousers and a pair of white glossy shoes.

Dr Ijeoma Ukumuneh was full of joy. To her, getting married to Pastor Onuoha Chukwu was fulfilling; it is a dream come true.

For the couple, the journey began at the Abia State University in Uturu (ABSU). Standing before a crowd of well-wishers, family members and friends, they looked confidently pronounced man and wife.

Venue was the Pink Hall, Gbaja Shopping Mall in Surulere, Lagos Mainland. Chukwu, as the story goes, proposed to Dr Ukumuneh in a Fast Food restaurant. She was shocked at first by his proposal, but she became convinced later that he would not renege on his promise to take care of her.

Pastor Iyke Iboko of Showers of Grace Christian Centre joined them together.

She was led into the hall with processional hymn, “Praise to the Lord” by her father Emmanuel Nkumuneh, who walked her down the aisle and handed her to the waiting groom.

The declaration of consent was done after a sermon by Pastor Iboko. He referred to the Bible; quoting from Proverbs 24:3-5 and Genesis 2:16-24, where God commanded man to leave his parents and cling to his wife.

Pastor Iboko implored the couple to see marriage as God’s idea of fixing a nation. He urged them to seek understanding, knowledge and information, which he described as secrets to a successful union.

The couple, together with the cleric, their maid and best man, received the communion.

As they stepped aside to sign the marriage register, the Living Spring Choir sprung into action, rendering nice songs to entertain the gathering.

Beaming with smile, the groom said his marriage to Ijeoma is a dream come true. God, he said, made him a promise and has fulfilled it. He described his wife as a go-getter with a lot of untapped treasure.

“I knew she would be my wife because when I told God I wanted to settle down, He gave me specific instructions which I obeyed,” he said.

The best man, Prince Obioma Ihesinlo, who is the Worship Director of the church where the wedding held, said he has known the groom since their school days.

Chukwu, he said, graduated in Economics while his wife read Optometry at ABSU. He said he (Ihesinlo) was the music director of their Christian fellowship.

He told their love story. “The couple began their relationship less than a year ago. Chuks told me he had a conviction about the bride and I encouraged him to take the bold step and approach her, which he did and it turned out positive. All the while, they were both serving in the same church at different units, but they never discovered themselves until the day the pastor preached and made a comment saying these exact words: “Your grace is in your place and God cannot give you something outside your environment”.

“So, probably inspired by the message and some other reasons, the groom started praying to God to open his eye, and then the dream and picture of sister Ij (Ijeoma) appeared to him and he took the bold step. But at his birthday last year, we all mocked Chuks, asking him when he will get married? It is surprising that his wife was also among those who teased him,” Ihesinlo said.

Their courtship, he said, changed Chukwu’s life. “His (Chuks) life has been so refined and he is more organised and he acts more responsibly,” he said.